Hoffman v. Professional Med Team

• Decision Date: 05 June 2003
• Docket Number: No. 1:01-CV-3.,1:01-CV-3.
• Parties: Lynn HOFFMAN, Plaintiff, v. PROFESSIONAL MED TEAM, Defendant.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Western District of Michigan

270 F.Supp.2d 954

Lynn HOFFMAN, Plaintiff, v. PROFESSIONAL MED TEAM, Defendant.

No. 1:01-CV-3.

United States District Court, W.D. Michigan, Southern Division.

June 5, 2003.

Henry L. Guikema, Henry L. Guikema, PC, Grand Rapids, MI, for Plaintiff.

Allison C. Reuter, Nemeth Burwell, P.C., Detroit, MI, for Defendant.

FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

QUIST, District Judge.

Plaintiff, Lynn Hoffman ("Plaintiff), charges that she was terminated from her employment with Defendant, Professional Med Team ("PMT"), in violation of the Family Medical Leave Act ("FMLA"), 29 U.S.C. §§ 2601-2654. Plaintiff seeks damages and reinstatement. The case was tried to the Court. These are the Court's findings of fact and conclusions of law pursuant to Rule 52 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.¹

Issue Presented

Plaintiff brought the instant action under the FMLA on January 2, 2001, which was over two years and two months after Plaintiff was fired from her employment at PMT. The statute of limitations under the FMLA is two-fold:

(1) In general. Except as provided in paragraph (2), an action may be brought under this section not later than 2 years after the date of the last event constituting the alleged violation for which the action is brought.

(2) Willful violation. In the case of such action brought for a willful violation of section 105 [29 U.S.C. § 2615], such action may be brought within 3 years of the date of the last event constituting the alleged violation for which such action is brought.

29 U.S.C. § 2617(c)(1), (2). Since Plaintiff exceeded the two-year statute of limitations under § 2617(c)(1), Plaintiff is required to prove facts that would support Plaintiffs allegation that PMT's violation of the FMLA was willful.

In order to support a finding of willful violation of the FMLA, Plaintiff must prove that PMT "kn[ew] its conduct to be wrong or has shown a reckless disregard for the matter in light of the statute." Sampson v. Citibank, F.S.B., 53 F.Supp.2d 13, 19 (D.D.C.1999) (emphasis added) (citing McLaughlin v. Richland Shoe Co., 486 U.S. 128, 133, 108 S.Ct. 1677, 1681, 100 L.Ed.2d 115 (1988) (determining standard of "willfulness" under identical language of the Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA"))); see also Dole v. Elliott Travel & Tours, Inc., 942 F.2d 962, 967 (6th Cir.1991) (applying willfulness standard to FLSA). Both parties agree that PMT had a right to request that Plaintiff submit a completed Form WH-380 physician certification. Therefore, the threshold question before the Court is whether PMT's refusal to accept Plaintiffs physician certification with a "No" answer to question 5.b., indicating that Plaintiffs qualifying medical condition did not require her to take intermittent or reduced schedule leave, constituted a willful violation of the FMLA. The Court concludes that it did not.

Overview of FMLA Certification

The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 ... allows "eligible" employees of a covered employer to take job-protected, unpaid leave, or to substitute appropriate paid leave if the employee has earned or accrued it, for up to a total of 12 workweeks in any 12 months because ... the employee's own serious health condition makes the employee unable to perform the function of his or her job (see § 825.306(b)(4)). In certain cases, this leave may be taken on an intermittent basis rather than all at once, or the employee may work a part-time schedule.

29 C.F.R. § 825.100(a) (emphasis added). To qualify for FMLA leave, an employee must show two things: (1) that the employee suffers from a "serious health condition" as defined under 29 C.F.R. § 825.114; and (2) that "the employee is unable to perform the functions of the position of the employee" as defined under 29 C.F.R. § 825.115. 29 U.S.C. § 2612; 29 C.F.R. § 825.112(a)(1). An employee satisfies § 825.115 if the employee is unable to perform some or all of the functions of the employee's position within the meaning of the FMLA, or if the employee "must be absent from work to receive medical treatment for a serious condition." 29 C.F.R. § 825.115.

Upon a showing of a "serious health condition" that renders an "employee unable to perform the functions of the position of the employee," an employee may seek three kinds of leave: (1) all at once; (2) intermittent leave; or (3) leave on a reduced leave schedule. 29 C.F.R. § 825.117 ("For intermittent leave or leave on a reduced leave schedule, there must be a medical need for leave (as distinguished from voluntary treatments and procedures) and it must be that such medical need can be best accommodated through an intermittent or reduced leave schedule."); see also 29 C.F.R. § 825.203. "Intermittent leave" is:

leave taken in separate periods of time due to a single illness or injury, rather than for one continuous period of time, and may include leave of periods from an hour or more to several weeks. Examples of intermittent leave would include leave taken on an occasional basis for medical appointments, or leave taken several days at a time spread over a period of six months, such as for chemotherapy.

29 C.F.R. § 825.800 (defining "intermittent leave"). In contrast, "reduced leave schedule" is defined as "a leave schedule that reduces the usual number of hours per workweek, or hours per workday, of an employee." 29 C.F.R. § 825.800 (defining "reduced leave schedule").

Pursuant to 29 C.F.R. § 825.305, an employer may require² an employee seeking FMLA leave to submit a written physician certification:

At the time the employer requests certification, the employer must also advise an employee of the anticipated consequences of an employee's failure to provide adequate certification. The employer shall advise an employee whenever the employer finds a certification incomplete, and provide the employee a reasonable opportunity to cure any such deficiency.

29 C.F.R. § 825.305(d). The United States Department of Labor has developed an optional form, Form WH-380,³ for employees' "use in obtaining medical certification ... from health care providers that meets FMLA's certification requirements." 29 C.F.R. § 825.306(a). An exegesis of the questions posed by Form WH-380, in the order corresponding to the questions posed by Form WH-380, appears at 29 C.F.R. § 825.306(b)(1)-(5).⁴ In a combined explanation of Form WH-380 questions three and four, § 825.306(b)(1) states that these questions seek to ascertain:

A certification as to which part of the definition of "serious health condition" (see § 825.114), if any, applies to the patient's condition, and the medical facts which support the certification, including a brief statement as to how the medical facts meet the criteria of the definition.

29 C.F.R. § 825.306(b)(1). Form WH-380 questions three and four thus inquire whether the patient has a "serious medical condition," satisfying the first requirement for FMLA leave. Next, § 825.306(b)(2) is divided into three sub-parts to correspond to Form WH-380 questions 5.a. through 5.c. Form WH-380 question 5.a. seeks to ascertain:

The approximate date the serious health condition commenced, and its probable duration, including the probable duration of the patient's present incapacity (defined to mean inability to work, attend school or perform other regular activities due to the serious health condition, treatment therefor, or recovery therefrom) if different.

29 C.F.R. § 825.306(b)(2)(i). Form WH-380 question 5.a. thus inquires when the serious medical condition began and how long it will last. Form WH-380 question 5.b. seeks to ascertain

[w]hether it will be necessary for the employee to take leave intermittently or to work on a reduced leave schedule basis (i.e., part-time) as a result of the serious health condition (see § 825.117 and § 825.203), and if so, the probable duration of such schedule.

29 C.F.R. § 825.306(b)(2)(h). Form WH-380 question 5.b. thus inquires whether the employee is seeking either intermittent leave or reduced schedule leave in the future as a result of the "serious health condition."⁵ Accordingly, if an employee requesting intermittent or reduced schedule leave answers "no" to Form WH-380 question 5.b., the employer may deem the employee to have submitted an FMLA leave request that seeks no medically-justified leave. The employer can thus deny the employee's request for FMLA leave without questioning the adequacy of the medical certification,⁶ because the "no" answer to Form WH-380 question 5.b. renders the employee's FMLA request incomplete.

Findings of Fact

PMT is a company located in Muskegon, Michigan, that provides emergency ambulance services to the surrounding areas. When PMT receives a call from "911," it dispatches its closest available ambulance to administer care or transport the individual to the nearest hospital. Two employees, a lead paramedic and either another paramedic or an emergency medical technician ("EMT") specialist, are assigned to each ambulance. If one of the two employees assigned to the ambulance is unavailable to work, either a supervisor rides with the ambulance that day or the ambulance will not go out.

In 1988, Plaintiff was hired full time by PMT as an EMT specialist. Plaintiff was licensed by the State of Michigan as an Emergency Medical Treatment Specialist Paramedic I. Between 1988 and October 8, 1998, Plaintiff continued to work a scheduled forty-eight-hour week for PMT. Plaintiffs job duties were to drive, an ambulance and to treat and transfer sick and injured people as part of an ambulance team.

Plaintiff was a member of the Service Employees International Union, Local 79 ("Local 79"). The terms and conditions of Plaintiffs employment were governed by a collective bargaining agreement between Local 79 and PMT and work rules promulgated by PMT. Under the terms of the collective bargaining agreement, Plaintiff was considered a full-time employee.

Beginning in 1993 or 1994, Plaintiff was diagnosed with recurrent migraine...